This invention is directed to stringed musical instruments.
Strings on stringed instruments, such as guitars, eventually break or need to be replaced. The process of replacing a string is time consuming, and inconvenient. Further, a musician must always be vigilant and mindful to keep a sufficient supply of spare sets of each gauge of string in close proximity, such as in an instrument case. If the musician forgets to purchase a certain sized string, or breaks the same string in short succession, it is probable that the musician will exhaust his supply of spare strings needed to replace the broken string. The possibility of exhausting a supply of spare strings is especially problematic in a live-concert setting.
To ensure an ample supply of spare strings is on hand at all times, a musician is usually obliged to port around a sufficient supply of spare strings, which is cumbersome. For instance, if a guitar has six strings, a musician may find it advantageous to carry around at least a dozen spare strings—two spare strings per string. In many instances, each string is sold separately. To avoid kinking the strings, the strings are usually packaged without folds. So, having to keep on hand and port around dozens of separate strings of different sizes at all times is often cumbersome.
String-Replacement Assemblies for fretted-string instruments have been previously discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,790,971 and in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2010/0326254.
Until the present invention, there remained a need in the art for a string-replacement assembly for non-fretted string instruments. Although a plurality of cartridges has been previously claimed, there has been no specific reference to a single cartridge for use as a string-replacement assembly, and therefore there remained in the art a need for the same.